Some recent shots I wanted to share...

This is my big girl all grown up & riding the school bus. Cody & Casey can't wait for her to get home every day. She loves the bus ride & has a couple "school bus friends" that she plays games with and talks to. One of them is a boy and she was all proud of herself for not being "too shy".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We went down to Brenda's for a quick afternoon visit last week. Caleb found a great climbing tree & Caitlin climbed right on up. She's getting pretty brave. The trampoline is on it's last legs, but Cody was still light enough to bounce around a bit. I love the static in his hair.

<----- This picture to the left is just a great looking shot. I think it really captures Cody's good nature. Plus I think he really looks like me when I was a boy... haha, take that Anne!

Caitlin & I dressed up our porch last week with some spooky bats & cobwebs.
I couldn't resist wrapping her up.

Here's a shot of me & the Coderton just hanging out bright & early in the morning.

Then, of course he wanted to take some pictures. I have about 10 random shots of his finger in the way... but this one turned out pretty good. :)

Nice looking up the nose shot eh?

Pumpkin Patch!

Sometimes it's hard to find something to do when you have the kids all day to yourself. It should be something fun, but also not the monotonous choices that get us through the long wet winters. It's nice when there is a choice to head out to the pumpkin patch and run through the corn maze, play on the play structures and have fun with the animals! Wheeee!Aren't they sweet together? They usually have fun with each other too!

Here's Cait-o getting static in her hair sliding down the slide. (I love these striped pants that she picked out!)
Truly, who does Cody look like? I think it's me, but the reviews are mixed. Leave a comment and let us know! Here's Cody trying to get the goat's attention. Both of these kids just LOVE animals!

Brian said this rooster was mean and would probably peck you mercilessly if he ever got out of his cage. Yikes! Can't wait to go back here for the hayride and pumpkins!

While the Mommy's away...

the kids get to JUMP OFF THE SOFA! Brian is great at letting the kiddos play fun games that involve too much "risk" for their cautious Mama. However, they LOVE IT! Cody has been jumping off of sofas since he started walking! Sheesh.

What do you think of that?

We must be doing something right...

Caitlin came into my room (just before the kids were supposed to be going to bed) and was crying. Since we were about to read some books for our bedtime ritual, I had no idea what was the matter. So, I said, "Cait-o, what happened?" She said that she hurt her ear on her dresser when she was putting her dirty clothes into her hamper. I felt sad for her, poor little sweet pea, and kissed her red little ear three times. I told her that her ear was in "shock" from the hurt as it was just sitting there, minding its own business when that mean old dresser banged into it. She asked what "shock" meant, and we discussed it briefly. I told her that it would feel better soon as the "shock" wore off. I then had to go throw Cody's clothes into his hamper (bath night) and told her to lay down on my pillow until I got back. Just as I got to Cody's room (seconds later), I heard Cody say, "CA-Tin, what's the matter?" I heard Caitlin tell him how she hurt her ear, then heard the sound of a lip smacking kiss. Then, little Cait-o came over to me and said that Cody kissed her ear to make it "all better." Doesn't it just figure that these sweet little moments are so hard to capture on camera or video or something? (I tried to get Cody to re-enact the kissing of the ear, but he wasn't buying it, sadly.) I figure, at least he cares about his sister and it shows. (Caitlin is MOST protective and caring of Cody as well soooo...) we must be doing something right!

Some things to remember...

I always mean to write down all the cute, funny things that our kids say. They are so easily imprinted in the moment, but forgotten by all the following moments. (Sadly.) I really want to remember some specific phrases and words so I'll write them in here.

Translations for Cody:

Moppas - sunglasses

Pocker - Popsicle

Copper - Helicopter

Hummy Birdie - Hummingbird

(The kid says "wasp" and "bee" very clearly. We are visited often by these insects.)

"Cody do it" - the kid is independent

lub = love (It was so cute the first time he said, "Lub Deacon" just all on his own.)

Sarpy juice - Sparkling apple juice

bum = gum, pum = plum

There are so many other ones, but it's hard to remember it all, especially now as he is getting clearer and clearer in his speech and how many words he says. I'm going to try to remember to write them down as they come up (I'll try!) so I can share those funny moments with others!

Favorite phrases of Caitlin's:

"Oh brother!"

"Negative!" (She really does say this just like Brian. It's all segmented and drawn out. It's pretty cute.)

"Mom, can I have some of your stickers?" ( I can't even tell you how often she asks me this, though she has TONS of her own. Somehow mine are the coveted ones.)

"Can I sleep in your room? My room is lonely." (She gets to sleep with Casey under her bed. I would have LOVED to have a barking, growling dog in my room when I was little. I would have felt so SAFE. I mean really, our dogs bark at everythhing. I've tried to explain that if monsters were real, Casey would sniff them out before she needed to worry about it.)

"Can I have...a sleepover...a bead party...etc., etc.?" (I think that she feels she doesn't see her friends enough. I definitely want her to have friends over. I didn't very often when I was a kid and I know that I ALWAYS wanted to, especially since I had all brothers and no other girls to play with.) So, I try. She has already had a few sleepovers and that's always so fun. Unfortunately, she ends up staying awake until 11 p.m., so I have to move her into my room. =) Feel free to leave comments on the cute things your kids did or said! Cheers!

Caitlin & Margaux

Here's a great video of the girls riding on the roller coaster (that Caitlin would never before willingly ride on until this year).

Even Cody is brave on this ride.

Front yard fun!

You know how sometimes kids get bored doing the same old things again and again? Mine have started to think that the backyard is boring, but for some reason, the front yard is SO FUN! I think it has to do with my safety concerns (no fences, busy street, etc.), the hose and that awesome spraying thingy on the end of it!

Cody just loves to get wet - the wetter the better. Caitlin doesn't mind obliging him in this way. Unfortunately, Cody wants to hold the hose as often as he wants to run under its spray!

Here's Cody finally figuring out that you have to hold the bottom of the nozzle to get it to spray!

HA, HA - take that Cait-o! (She loves this game as much as Cody does!)

This picture was the one just before the one where he actually got the hose to spray. He couldn't figure out that he had to hold the bottom to make the water come out! Caitlin WAS trying to help him before she got all cheeky for this photo.

Uh-oh! We've been hanging out at home, no excuses sadly.

It's been SO LONG between posts...again. I get into real ruts where I just don't feel that I have anything to blog about and don't have any pictures of recent events. I will try harder, I promise. I know how nice it is to see the kiddos change through photos, especially when you can't see them in person!

Oh yeah! Here's a cute photo of our little plum thief! She stands on her hind legs on the fence and bites the plums off. Sometimes she is able to get the ones off the ground on the neighbor's side. It's quite amusing. If we catch her in the act, I'll take some photos of that too!

Here are some photos of the kiddos just hangin' out!

Here are the two munchkins in the backyard sharing (gasp!) the swing! They are so cute when they play together. Caitlin acts just like a little Mommy/best friend. It's so great to see!

It was EXTREMELY hot here not too long ago and the kiddos had to cool off by running around in their bathing suits or else just shorts and t-shirts. Here you see they had been wet and needed towels, but found ways to play inside the house to try to stay out of the HEAT.

Here's Cody getting really good on his little bike. This was a great deal at a yard sale for $2.00!!! $2.00!!!! How can people afford to NOT yardsale?

We think Cody loves the doggies just as much as Caitlin did when she was his age. Caitlin shares Casey reluctantly with him and constantly tells him that he and Daddy share ABBY.

This is one of my favorite photos! They were using all of the track to make one big train track to play on. Didn't they do a great job? I was impressed, especially since they actually put it together, TOGETHER! What a great pair of kiddos!

While the Daddy's away...

the kiddos will make BROWNIES (and funny faces)!

I can't understand why it's so hard to find SOMEONE to LICK THE SPOON!

More sights and tastes of summer...

We went and picked blackberries today. Cody, of course, ate his fair share out of our containers. I don't think he understands what "picking blackberries" means yet. I have a LOT of battle wounds (though minor surface cuts, they really STING) as I kept trying to pick the big, juicy bunch of berries that were waaaaay back in those thorny vines. Yow! Anyway, look at the loot we got out of it in our jars of freezer jam!